Abstract
The improper stacking of chromium (Cr) slag poses a great threat to the environment and human health. The toxicity of Cr in soil is not only related to its total amount, but also to its fractions. A simulated experiment was conducted in laboratory to assess the environmental risk of Cr fractions migration and distribution in red soil. The results showed the content of acid-soluble and reducible Cr significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in top layer but increased in middle and substratum layers over time. This indicated that acid-soluble and reducible Cr migrated downward with time and the relative mobility of acid-soluble Cr (0.038 mg/kg·d·m) was higher than that of reducible Cr (0.028 mg/kg·d·m). Furthermore, correlation analysis between microbial community and chromium fraction showed the relative abundance of Lysobacter, Flavihumibacter, Flavisolbacter, and Altererythrobacter was significantly (P < 0.05) correlated with acid-soluble and reducible fractions. Thus, these microorganisms might be evaluators to assess the migration of acid-soluble and reducible fractions in red soil. In summary, this study provided a new comprehension on remediation of Cr-contaminated soil by monitoring the migration of acid-soluble and reducible fractions and the changes of related microbial groups.
Highlights
Industrial chromium (Cr) products have been widely applied in various important industrial applications, such as chemical, foundry, leather tanning, dyeing, and electroplating [1,2,3]
All the noncontaminated red soil samples were collected from the depth of 8–12 m of construction site in Yuelu County, Changsha City, Hunan Province, China (112◦ 540 30” E, 28◦ 100 35” N, Figure 1), the soil samples from Changsha City were classified into three parts
Compared with the CK, the residual Cr (RES) fraction in the Cr slag (CR) group decreased from 58.2% to 15.1%, while the and reducible Cr (RED) fractions increased from 6.3% to 15.9% and 8.5% to 42.3%, respectively
Summary
Industrial chromium (Cr) products have been widely applied in various important industrial applications, such as chemical, foundry, leather tanning, dyeing, and electroplating [1,2,3]. Cr slag abandoned by metallurgical and chemical industries contains a large amount of high-concentration. Cr. Because of the lack of landfill sites and the expensive costs of Cr slag treatment, illegal disposing of the chromate plant has become a common problem in China [4]. The improper stacking of Cr slag under natural conditions generates soluble and migratable fractions of Cr, which may seep into the groundwater and result in the contamination of drinking water and agricultural soils [5,6,7]. Decreasing of Cr bioavailability and hindering its fractions migration become the major concerns for remediation of Cr-contaminated soils [9]
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